Electric Harley Davidson LiveWire now on sale; starts at $29,799

Harley starts taking pre-orders for its all-electric motorcycle and debuts two concepts at CES

The all-electric Harley-Davidson motorcycle, LiveWire, gets a price and goes on sale at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show.

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The all-electric Harley-Davidson motorcycle, LiveWire, gets a price and goes on sale at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show.

The all-electric Harley-Davidson motorcycle, the LiveWire, now has a price: $29,799. The motorcycle manufacturer announced the MSRP during its press conference at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Along with the price, Harley announced that it will start taking preorders for the LiveWire, all while showing off a pair of electric concepts.

If you’re unfamiliar with LiveWire, let’s catch you up. The all-electric motorcycle can sprint from a dead stop to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds. Yes, that's off the pace of some of the quickest production motorcycles ever, like the Suzuki GSX-R1000 or Hayabusa, but it's definitely no slouch. Harley claims the bike is good for 110 miles on a fully charged battery. You can probably hypermile some more out of it, but hammering the throttle might shave some miles off that, too.

The LiveWire is also one of the most connected motorcycles to roll out of the company’s factory. Featuring a system called H-D Connect Service, the motorcycle can relay information like a tamper alert, charge status and range to your phone, via the on-board LTE-enabled Telematics Control Unit. The bike will also remind you when it’s time for service through this connected system.

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Harley-Davidson shows its commitment to electric vehicles with a pair of electric concepts that debuted at CES.

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Harley-Davidson shows its commitment to electric vehicles with a pair of electric concepts that debuted at CES.

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Harley-Davidson shows its commitment to electric vehicles with a pair of electric concepts that debuted at CES.

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Harley-Davidson shows its commitment to electric vehicles with a pair of electric concepts that debuted at CES.

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Harley-Davidson shows its commitment to electric vehicles with a pair of electric concepts that debuted at CES.

The side effect of the LiveWire’s electric powertrain is the absence of traditional motorcycle controls. Sure, there are still brakes and a hand throttle, but the lack of a transmission means this bike will simply use the throttle for all accelerating needs. This makes LiveWire perfect for novice riders and those who might have thought a traditional motorcycle’s controls would be too difficult to master.

Harley also showed off a pair of smaller electric concepts by way of an electrically powered mountain bike and a scaled-up electric minibike. Harley is using both concepts to better align itself with the future of mobility solutions and urban electrification.

In person, the LiveWire does look cool and sticks to the styling that defines Harley Davidson. The company also kept some vestiges of traditional motorcycles like a fuel-tank-shaped space used for housing the LiveWire’s various battery control units, telematics system and the charger.

It’s hard to say if this will revolutionize Harley the same way the company leaped forward in 1936 with its first production overhead valve engine, but this could be a sign of the next wave of Harley-Davidson’s legacy -- and motorcycling in general.